-SM Stirling, The Desert And The Blade (New York, 2016), Chapter Eleven, p. 218.
If there are Beings Who hear prayers, then They may or may not respond or Their answer might be "No." Gods are persons, not just natural forces. In Poul Anderson's War Of The Gods, offerings have been made to Thor but he has not intervened against a marauding giant. However, a man comes to fight the giant so did Thor send the man?
A Moral Tale From Nygel
A rising flood forces a man to climb onto his roof. Confident that God will answer his prayers for help, he refuses rescue first by a boat, then by a helicopter. When he has drowned, God tells him, "I did send you a boat and a helicopter..."
A True Story From Another Guy
A hitchhiker, needing to catch a plane and prepared to try anything once, said, "God, I want the next vehicle to stop and drive me straight to the airport." The next vehicle, a coach, drove past but then stopped and reversed. A head stuck out and shouted, "Hi. We're going to a Billy Graham rally and wondered if you would like to come?" Disliking God's sense of humor, the hitchhiker never prayed again. (I trust that God, having created a sceptical hitchhiker, respects this attitude.)
2 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Yes, I too believe God to have a sense of humor. And He can help us in unexpected, unpredictable ways. The rule to follow is to be humble enough to accept that unpredictability.
Sean
Paul:
The one you quoted Nygel as saying, I've run across elsewhere; particularly memorable in a book where it's attributed to a fellow with a THICK Highland Scots accent. "Gran, how c'n ye say Ah didna provide? Ah sent a car, a boat, an' a helicopter!"
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